as the dawn light touches her, Kaelah vanishes, and my eyes shoot open. I’d say I’m getting tired of these dreams, but for the first time since I started having them, a sense of loss fills me when I open my eyes. I straighten on the bed and look around, surprised to find I’m in a private room inside the infirmary. Flashbacks from the Blood Trials flood my mind, but they’re superseded with visions of Kaelah, and I swallow a lump in my throat I didn’t expect to feel.
Wherever Kaelah has gone, I feel her absence nestled inside me like the sun dipping behind the clouds. I’m cold now without Kaelah’s light to warm my skin and tears sting my eyes. Luke startles beside me on the bed, and I lean over and press my mouth to his, grateful we’re alone. His eyes flutter open as I straddle his hips, needing that comfort, that presence to fill the void.
“Jaybird?” Luke whispers against my lips, his voice groggy from sleep. His hand falls on my shoulder and holds me back from him, his eyes studying me in the near darkness. The moonlight filtering through the window casts the two of us in a soft silver glow. “What’s wrong?”
A solitary tear slips from my lashes, and Luke watches it fall, landing on his chest.
“What happened?” he growls out, his voice hardening. Suddenly he’s very alert as he scans the room for any signs of threat. His dick is hard, however, and I so badly want to touch him. “Who do I need to kill?”
I chuckle despite the tears threatening to fall again. “No one. At least, no one just yet.”
He looks up at me and brushes the water from my cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Tell me why you’re you cryin’, jaybird. Are you still hurtin’?”
I shake my head, afraid if I talk I’ll just cry. I’m not sure why I’m so emotional over Kaelah leaving. Perhaps it’s the meaning behind her departure that’s got me so worked up. Titans and keys and destiny… it’s all so much on top of everything else. I don’t even know how I’m going to get out of this prison, let alone find the keys. Gods, I don’t even know if I’ll survive the next Blood Trials.
“Please, Luke,” I whisper, reaching down for his cock. “I need a distraction right now. I need you.”
He groans and closes his eyes when I slide my hand into his boxers. I watch his expression go from concerned to content as I stroke him with slow, languid movements. He’s already hard for me, but I want to feel him, to be consumed by him so that distant ache inside me fades away.
“Izora.” My name is barely a whisper on his lips. “Oh, shit…”
“Does that feel good?” I whisper, gazing down at him through my lashes.
His eyes open and he looks up at me. “Fuck yeah it does, jaybird. But what’s going on—”
“Sshh.” I press a finger to his lips. “No more talking.”
He grins against my finger but says nothing. There’s something super hot about being the one in charge. I scoot down and bring my mouth to the tip of Luke’s cock, wrapping my lips around him. He jerks into my mouth as a deep, throaty moan leaves his lips. I take him to the back of my throat and suck and bob until his thrusts and moans grow more urgent, and I know he’s close.
Peeking up at him, I pull back and straddle his hips again. He places a hand on my waist and pulls me down until I’m sliding onto his cock. He bites his lip and closes his eyes for a moment. A groan builds in the back of his throat as I take him all in, right to the base of his shaft, and gods, he feels amazing inside me. I clench around him and he opens his eyes, a wicked grin playing on his lips.
“Thank the gods I locked the door,” he says, his sapphire eyes gleaming. His hand on my waist moves to lift my gown over my shoulders. When I’m naked before him, he skims his gaze over me slowly. “Let me see you for a moment.”
A blush creeps into my cheeks as I steady myself on his cock. Luke trails his fingers over my stomach and up to the valley between my breasts. Softly he tweaks my nipple and then grips my breast with one hand, gently squeezing me.
“Fuck, look